David E. Drew  
 

Joseph B. Platt Chair in the Management of Technology

Professor of Education at Claremont Graduate University

Click here for details
Read more
Click here for details
Read more

welcome

My research interests focus on social justice and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). My work addresses discriminatory barriers that prevent many marginalized students from accessing STEM courses. I have worked with school districts, colleges, and universities on programs that remove those barriers and facilitate both student access and student success. My book, STEM the Tide was published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

I also conduct research and write about higher education, technology, and public health.

I am a sociologist who employs both quantitative and qualitative techniques, but I emphasize the former more. In my research, I build mathematical and statistical models. I have evaluated many local, state, and national programs to reform and improve STEM education, and to broaden participation in STEM. In my teaching, I focus on quantitative methods, data analytics, and statistical techniques.

My first career was as a computer programmer; ever since I have studied the impact of digital technology on our society. Presently, I am writing a book about this, tentatively titled The Bionic Society: Rethinking What It Means to be Human in an Age of Bits, Bytes, and Bots. I discuss both the positive and the negative transformational changes in society brought by digital technology and argue that we are reaching a tipping point after which the negative effects, for example the impact on social inequality, will outweigh the positive effects.

Selected Recent Presentations

"The Emergence and Power of STEAM", Invited Presentation in Bucharest, Romania. (January 2019)

"Integrating Engineering with the Liberal Arts", Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Conference, Sydney, Australia. (August 2018)

"Key Issues in STEM Education", Globalizing the Liberal Arts Conference, Soka University, California. (June 2018)

"The Missing Link in Engineering Education: The Arts and Humanities", 25th International Conference on Computers in Education, Christchurch, New Zealand. (Dec 2017)

"Liberal Studies in Engineering", Annual Meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education, New Orleans, La. (June, 2016)

"Building Center of Excellence in Higher Education", Presentation at the University of Tallin, Estonia. (May 2016)

"The Houston LSAMP Program: A Model for the Nation", Presentation at Governing Board Meeting. (April 2016)

"The Need for a New Pedagogical Paradigm in STEM Education", Presentation at 2015 Education Summit, University of Northern Iowa. (May 2015)

"Building Academic Centers of Excellence", Conference on Liberal Arts Education in India, Bangalore, India. (January 2014)

"Keynote speech to the annual meeting of the NSF programs about broadening participation in STEM", National Science Foundation (NSF). (June 2012)

"Invitational international conference on the future of engineering education", Abu Dhabi speech. (March 2012)

Presentation at a conference on liberal art colleges in India, January 2014

Selected Recent Articles

"The Limits of Data Science", Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 2024. (in press)

"A Critique: Report on the NASEM Committee on Integrating Higher Education in the Arts, Humanities, Sciences, Engineering and Medicine", in Engineering, Social Sciences, and the Humanities: Have the Conversations Come of Age?, Hyldegaard, S. et al, (Ed.), 2023. (co-author)

Reimagining Instructional Leadership: Integrated Leadership Functions Predicting Teacher Effectiveness and Teacher Morale. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 2023, 1-24. (co-author)

"A Call for More Graduate Programs in Statistics Education", AMSTATNEWS, 2022. (co-author)

An Urgent Plea for More Graduate Programs in Statistics Education. Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 2022, 12(1), 422-427. (co-author)

"Perceptions towards Sustainable Transportation/Travel Systems and Recommendations: A Survey Case Study in Jakarta, Indonesia" International Journal of Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management Applications. 2022, Volume 13, 209-221 (co-author)

"ICT and Women's Careers" in Technology and Women's Empowerment. Lechman, E. (Ed.), 2021, Routledge. (co-author)

Epidemic VS pandemic: A visual data analysis of gun deaths Vs COVID-19 deaths in the United States of America. American Conference on Information Systems, 2020, (co-author)

"The Five Safest and Deadliest States for Both Covid-19 and Gun Violence" The Hill (Capitol Hill) Nov 23, 2020 (co-author)

"STEM Education, Economic Productivity, and Social Justice" (2020), in R. Papa (ed.) The Oxford Encyclopedia of Educational Leadership

"Breaking Boundaries with Liberal Studies in Engineering" (2018, co-author), in P. Kapranos (ed.), The Future of Engineering Education is Interdisciplinary, Routledge.

"The Impact of a Supportive Community Experience on African-Americans in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering" (Fall, 2018, co-author), The Learning Assistance Review, Vol 23, Issue 2, pp 9-40.

"Sustaining Health Behaviors Through (Technological) Empowerment" (2018, co-author), in Persuasive Technology.

"On MOOCs", The Bridge (Fall, 2015, co-author) In this National Academy of Engineering journal article, Louis Bucciarelli and I discuss the unique strengths and weaknesses of MOOCs.

Understanding the value proposition of health information exchange: the case of uncompensated care cost recovery (2013)
This case study examined the use of the Nationwide Health Information Network as a mechanism for secure and interoperable transport of existing clinical data from electronic health records. (co-author)

Why U.S. can’t get back to head of the class (because it was never there) (2012)
This Washington Post article provides facts to counter the claim made by many policymakers that the US once was a world leader in K-12 education.

The Five Misconceptions About Teaching Math and Science- American education has not declined and other surprising truths (2012)
This article on false myths about STEM was solicited for a special issue of Slate/Future Tense magazine about science education.

Billionaire dropouts are not the rule (2011)
In this Washington Post article, I responded to, and criticized, a piece in the New York Times that questioned whether a college education still mattered.